This lesson designs an Amazing Spider-Man wallpaper, combining everything we’ve learned so far — layers, masks, filters, color grading — into one composition.
2026 note: This lesson was recorded on Photoshop CS6 in 2014. Adobe no longer sells the CS line — Photoshop now ships via Creative Cloud subscription. About 95% of the menus and shortcuts shown in the video still match the modern version; only the iconography is a bit fresher.
Workflow
- New project at your screen resolution (e.g. 1920×1080).
- Drop in the background, scale and place with Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T).
- Bring the cut-out Spider-Man PNG onto its own layer.
- Soft-mask around the character.
- Add a Gradient Map or Color Lookup for cinematic grading.
- Type the title and apply Outer Glow / Drop Shadow via Layer Style.
- Save as .PSD, then export .JPG (Quality 10).
2026 Speed-ups
- If the background doesn’t fit the aspect ratio, pull the Crop outward and use Generative Expand.
- No clean PNG? Select Subject cuts the character out in seconds.
- For cinematic looks, try Color Lookup > FoggyNight or Bleach Bypass.
